Ivan McDonagh wrote:

....snip.....

This is one of the points that the book makes as I'm sure you know. I'm
aware that transport infrastructure has changed since then but so has the
requirements of a commercially viable farm. That is, as the population has
continued to grow we have either of more product per hectare being required
or more hectares being required. In either event, it seems to me that
whatever cost efficiencies have been gained in transport will be lost
through the greater bulk of material being used.

Generally, a farmer is required to produce more with less. So their
yield per acres has to be up and they have less workers and bigger
machinery. And as a general rule (at least in this country - Australia)
they also require more land.

To give you an example. After WWII, my wife's uncle obtain a soldier
settler grant and started dairy farming with 40 head and two farm
assistants. By the time he retired/sold out, he was milking 200 head by
himself.

The land exception is agriculture that is really an industrial process,
e.g. chickens for meat and eggs, aquaculture (modern, not farm dams),
mushroom growing, feedlots (cattle, pigs), some vegetables (lettuce,
tomatoes, cucumbers) etc.


Transport wise, modern trucks are far more powerful, thus carry more
faster, which means the driver is more efficent, but also B-doubles also
means that the driver is also able to carry a double load. This all
reduces the cost component of transport. the increased amount is more to
do with population growth and the sad fact that Australia largely
imports any manufactured item.